Episode 809: "Pharos" (SPOILERS!)

Here are my reactions to Episode 809 of the OUTLANDER TV series, titled "Pharos".

*** SPOILER WARNING!! ***

There are SPOILERS below! If you don't want to know yet, stop reading now.

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Diana Gabaldon wrote the script for this episode. I thought it was one of the best episodes this season.

The episode opens with Lord John regaining consciousness in a place we haven't seen before, a bloody wound on his temple from Ezekiel Richardson hitting him with the pistol at the end of last week's episode. He looks up to see Richardson smiling down at him.

"Where in God's name am I? And what am I doing here?"

Most of this scene comes straight from the book.

“I really do apologize,” Richardson said, and sounded as though he meant it. “I have no personal animus against you at all, and if I could have managed this without involving you, I would have.”

(From GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 136, "Two Days Previously". Copyright © 2021 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

Lord John is furious, but Richardson's next words stop him cold.

“Are you familiar with a man named Neil Stapleton?” Richardson asked, cocking one brow.

“In what sense, familiar?” Grey asked, raising both of his. “I might have heard the name, but if so, it’s been some time.” It had been some time, but the name “Neil Stapleton”--better known to Grey as Neil the Cunt--had struck him in the pit of the stomach with the force of a two-pound round shot. He hadn’t seen Stapleton in many years, but he certainly hadn’t forgot the man.

“Perhaps I should have inquired as to whether you knew him ... in the biblical sense?” Richardson asked, watching Grey’s face. He pushed the document toward Grey, whose eyes fixed at once on the heading: Confession of Neil Patrick Stapleton.

No, he thought. Bloody hell, no… He took up the document, glad in a remote way to see that his hands weren’t shaking.

(From GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 136, "Two Days Previously". Copyright © 2021 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

For those of you who don't know, Neil Stapleton, aka "Neil the C*nt", is a character from the Lord John books and stories. He and John had a brief sexual relationship some twenty years ago, but they were never close friends. Still, the fact that Richardson knows about John's relationship with Neil is very dangerous indeed, given that sodomy was a capital crime in those days. If Richardson makes this information public, the scandalous nature of the accusation could ruin John's whole family, including William and John's brother Hal.

John wants to know how Richardson got this confession. "What did you do to him? Bribery? Torture? Is he still alive?"

Richardson says Stapleton is still alive, but he is in London. There is another witness, however. The door opens and Percy Wainwright, aka Percival Beauchamp, walks in.

Percy looked dreadful, Grey thought. He was disheveled, his neckcloth missing, and his curly, graying hair matted in spots, sticking up in others. He was pale as skimmed milk, with dark circles under his eyes. The eyes themselves were bloodshot and fixed on Grey at once.

“John,” he said, a little hoarsely. He cleared his throat, hard, then looked away and said, “I’m sorry, John. I’m not brave. You’ve always been brave, but I never have.”

This was no more than the truth, acknowledged between them and part of the love they’d once shared; John had always been willing to be brave for both of them. He felt a tinge of sympathetic pity beneath the larger sense of annoyance--and the very much larger sense of fear.

(From GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 136, "Two Days Previously". Copyright © 2021 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

Richardson reads from Percy's confession, pretending to be shocked at the mention of "unnatural acts" and "incest". The reference to incest is, of course, inaccurate; Percy and John are stepbrothers, not biologically related at all, but that won't matter if the London press gets hold of this confession.

John tries to shrug it off. "A gentleman does not submit to blackmail." He demands to know what Richardson wants.

"[Your brother Hal, the Duke of Pardloe] intends to give a speech before the House of Lords recommending the withdrawal of further funds for the war. Should that happen, the British government will lose both the war and the American colonies. That cannot be allowed."

Richardson wants John to persuade Hal not to make that speech, but instead to speak out in favor of continuing funding for the war.

"And what if he declines?"
"Then the scandal will thoroughly discredit him, and everything he says. And you'll be hanged for sodomy. Either way, I get what I want."

This is a very serious threat, as John knows firsthand. He saw a man hanged for sodomy with his own eyes, in LORD JOHN AND THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE BLADE.

After Riohardson leaves, locking the door behind him, John finds a small bit of metal (a nail or something similar?) lying on the floor.

Time passes. We see that John is being held near a lighthouse. There are guards outside his cell, but they're mostly ignoring him. John removes his signet ring and fiddles with it, but it's not clear what he's doing.

Percy comes to see John, to beg him to do as Richardson asks.

"I don't want you to die."
"Well, I share that opinion, but no, I won't do it."

The rest of this scene between Percy and John is straight from the book.

"I love you.” The words came softly, seeming to be addressed to the tabletop rather than John, but he heard them and was both shocked and annoyed to feel a small lump in his throat.

[....]

"If you meant what you just said, then for the sake of any love you’ve ever had for me--go and tell my son that I love him.” He badly wanted to shout, “For God’s sake, tell Willie what’s happened! Tell him to go to Prévost and get help!” But Percy was terrified of Richardson--and everything else in the world, he thought with an exhausted pity--and to ask him to risk something like that was likely to make him run away, get drunk, or cut his own throat.

“Please,” he added, gently.

(From GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 151, "A Message in a Bottle". Copyright © 2021 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

John gives Percy his signet ring, telling him to give it to William. "He's my son. It should be his." That line isn't in the book, but I liked it.

In the next scene, we see Jamie, Claire, and William galloping through the countryside. Claire's voiceover indicates that she's seeking any possible way to avoid Jamie's being killed at Kings Mountain.

A visibly agitated Amaranthus greets them when they arrive at Lord John's house in Savannah. It's been seven weeks since anyone has heard from Lord John, with no clues as to where he might have gone. Amaranthus shows them a package that was recently delivered for Hal, who is still in London.

“That came this morning, for Father Pardloe, but I opened it. It’s from a man named Richardson.”

William snatched the letter up and read it quickly. Then read it again, unable to make sense of it. And a third time, slowly.

“Who is that man?” Amaranthus had retreated a little, eyeing the letter as though it might suddenly spring to life and bite. William didn’t blame her.

(From GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 137, "Infamous and Scandalous Acts". Copyright © 2021 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

The messenger was "an odd fellow" who "seemed quite melancholy" and asked after William as well. He said he had a message for William, but then he left without giving Amaranthus any details. Clearly that must have been Percy.

William opens the package. It's from Richardson, of course, and the cover letter is a very explicit threat: "Should you choose not to heed this suggestion, be apprised that copies of the accompanying documents will be forwarded to all London newspapers, as well as to each member of Parliament."

It takes only the briefest glance at the documents (including Neil Stapleton's confession) for William to guess the truth: that this has to do with Lord John's "proclivities".

"We need to find and burn all copies of these letters," Jamie says. This is something I've wondered about since I first read BEES. It's not enough just to rescue John. The mere existence of these letters would cause a huge scandal if the London press got hold of them.

One of the documents is signed, "P. Wainwright". Percy is involved somehow. William goes immediately to the solicitor's office where Percy works, to confront him. Notice the sign in front of the shop, with the name "G. Tannahill". That's an "Easter egg" for the viewers, because Guy Tannahill is one of the producers of the OUTLANDER TV series.

William storms into Percy's office, furious. He grabs Percy by the throat, demanding, "Where is my father?!"

Between them, Jamie and William beat the truth out of Percy: Richardson is responsible.

"Richardson!" William says, rapidly putting the pieces together. The same Richardson who sent him into the Great Dismal, who had him captured by Hessians.... "I'll kill him! After I kill you."

Percy doesn't know the exact location where John is being held, only that he's in a boathouse. He gives them John's signet ring, and Jamie discovers that the word "PHAROS" has been scratched into the inside of the ring. William and Jamie both recognize the word. It's Greek for "lighthouse". William says there's a lighthouse nearby, on Tybee Island. That must be where John is being held.

I thought it was a clever idea for John to conceal a message in the ring like that -- a message that Jamie and William would understand at once, due to their classical education. Pharos refers to the Lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the ancient wonders of the world. I'd never heard of it before, but I love learning bits of historical trivia like this.

Percy assures them that Lord John is alive, but that's not good enough for William. "If we don't find my father, or if we do and he's dead, there will be nowhere safe for you." Good line!

In the next scene, Claire, Jamie, and William arrive on Tybee Island and locate the boathouse. Looking through a spyglass, they see Richardson in the distance, carrying a fishing rod.

"He'll likely be a while, then," Jamie points out. Easier to keep an eye on him if he's staying in one location, he means. And it will also (conveniently) buy time for Jamie and William to scout out the area near the boathouse.

At the boathouse, the guards are paying no attention when Jamie and William suddenly emerge from the water nearby. In moments they've killed the guards.

Claire watches through her spyglass as Richardson packs up his catch of fish and starts to leave. I liked her whispered, "F*ck!"

Meanwhile, Jamie easily breaks into the boathouse where John is being held. William is right behind him. I loved the look on John's face when William gives him back his signet ring. But even more, I loved that father-son hug -- and Jamie's reaction, watching the love flowing between his son and the man who raised him when Jamie himself could not. He had to be feeling somewhat jealous of John at that moment.

Richardson walks along the water's edge, oblivious to Claire's approach until she gets close enough to draw a pistol and aim it at him. She forces him at gunpoint to go into the boathouse, where Jamie, John, and William find them a short time later. With three pistols pointed at him, Richardson doesn't put up a fight. They handcuff him to a wooden post.

Claire is left alone with Richardson. The next scene is based on the book, but I think having Claire (a fellow time-traveler) be the one to have this conversation with Richardson, rather than John, works much better than it did in BEES. This is my favorite scene in the episode.

“[How] do you feel about slavery?” Not getting an immediate response, he said, much less patiently, “You were governor of Jamaica, for God’s sake--surely you’re well acquainted with the institution?”

“I assume that’s a rhetorical question,” Grey said, gingerly touching the healing but still-swollen laceration on his scalp. “But if you insist…yes. I’m reasonably sure I know a great deal more about it than you do. As to my feelings regarding slavery, I deplore it on both philosophical and compassionate grounds. Why? Did you expect me to declare myself in favor of it?”

“You might have.” Richardson looked at him intently for a moment, and then seemed to come to some decision, for he sat down across the table from Grey, meeting his eyes on the level. “But I’m glad you didn’t."

(From GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 138, "Inherited Evil". Copyright © 2021 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

Claire, of course, has never left any doubt that she deplores the institution of slavery, and wants no part of it. We saw that from her first visit to River Run in Season 4, where she was quite vocal in her disapproval of Jocasta keeping slaves.

"My great-great-grandmother was a slave," Richardson says. Then he proceeds to explain how slavery will be abolished in Britain and her colonies. It's basically the same explanation he gives in BEES, but he goes on to make his meaning abundantly clear with these added lines:

"But that's not nearly the number in America who may not be free -- not for eighty-five more years -- who continue to be enslaved and suffer and die. It's the Revolution which allows slavery to flourish here unchecked. And that leads to another bloody war--"

"The Civil War," Claire says, and that stops Richardson in his tracks.
"What did you say, madam?"
"You're talking about the North and South. Sherman's March. Gettysburg. Abraham Lincoln. You're a time-traveler."

I love the look of utter shock on Richardson's face as he realizes, finally, that she is one as well. He clearly didn't expect that.

We get a brief glimpse of Jamie retrieving a rowboat, and then we're back with Claire and Richardson. Claire has been filling him in on a little of her own time-travel experience, just as she told Wendigo Donner years ago.

"1945, and 1968. The first time was an accident. The second time wasn't." Richardson sits down as best he can with his wrists still manacled behind him. "1968? This can't be a coincidence."

Interesting. Does that mean Richardson is connected to Donner and his group, or even Geillis, who also traveled back in time from 1968? In the books, we don't know what year Richardson traveled from.

"It’s very simple: if the patriots don’t succeed, the American colonies remain under British law. They won’t engage in slave trading, and their existing slaves will all be freed in the next fifty years. They won’t become a slaveholding nation, and the Civil War [....] won’t happen, thus saving hundreds of thousands of lives."

(From GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 138, "Inherited Evil". Copyright © 2021 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

Watching Claire as Richardson becomes more and more animated, caught up in the fervor of his cause, I get the feeling that she's remembering, very clearly, her own very similar conviction, back in Season 2, that history could be changed, that they could somehow find a way to prevent the slaughter at Culloden and the destruction of the Highland clans.

Richardson says that Lord John's brother Hal is the key. "I don't need him dead. I need him to reverse his position." To come out publicly in favor of continuing the war, in other words. Richardson wants him to convince the British government to stay in the war and fight, and eventually win.

"I understand your urge to change the course of history," Claire says. "I admire it. The past leaves a lot to be desired. But it won't work." She tells him about their efforts to stop the Rising, to prevent the Battle of Culloden. "No matter what side we fight on, no matter how hard we fight, what has happened before always happens again. [....] Maybe I'm not here to change history. Maybe I'm here to be a part of history."

"I don't know if it was fate, or destiny, or God [that brought me here the first time], but what I do know is that I'm supposed to be here, that I'm meant to be here. This is my time."

I like this VERY much!

Richardson, of course, replies that he believes he's meant to be there, too. "What is this ability we have for, except to try and make the world a better place?"

You may recall Geillis Abernathy, in VOYAGER, telling Claire much the same thing:

“You asked me why I thought we can pass through the stones,” I said to her back. “Do you know why, Geilie?” She glanced over her shoulder at me.

“Why, to change things,” she said, sounding surprised. “Why else?"

(From VOYAGER by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 60, "The Scent of Gemstones". Copyright © 1994 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

And then Richardson pleads with Claire to let him go, "to do what I believe is my part in history." She asks for his word that he won't harm anyone, and he agrees. And -- incredibly -- she releases him! I started yelling at the TV, "NO!! You idiot, don't DO that!!"

Richardson heads for the door the instant he's free, and suddenly Claire hears a gunshot. She finds Lord John standing over Richardson, lying on the floor with a pool of blood under his head, obviously dead.

"That was for William," John says to the dead man. "If I had another shot, I'd put one in you for me, and another for Hal, too." I don't blame him one bit! Good riddance!

Even though I'm very glad Richardson is dead and no longer a threat, I was just astounded that Claire would let him go like that. It was a spectacularly bad idea, in my opinion. Has she forgotten about the lesson Jamie learned with Stephen Bonnet? You don't turn a dangerous criminal loose to cause more trouble just because you empathize with his situation!! Claire was very lucky that John was outside that door with a loaded pistol when Richardson came out.

It's worth noting here that we have no idea how Richardson's story arc will play out in Book 10, and I fully expect it to be quite different from what they've depicted here. Just remember, as Diana Gabaldon has said many times, "the books are the books, and the show is the show."

In the next scene, Jamie, Claire, and Lord John return to John's house in Savannah. John thanks Jamie and Claire for rescuing him.

"I couldna let you die at the hands of that bastard. And I have decided" -- long pause -- "to forgive you for what happened." For having sex with Claire, he means. "We need never speak of it again."

John's reaction takes Jamie completely by surprise.

"I do not forgive you. I do not forgive your pig-headed treatment of me for the past two years!" And with that, John storms out of the room.

If you ask me, John does have a point. He did nothing wrong (Jamie was presumed dead, after all), and yet Jamie beat him to a pulp, left him to the mercy of a group of Continental soldiers, and has barely spoken to him (civilly or otherwise) in all the time since. John has been willing to reconcile for a long time, but Jamie has never shown any sign that he's ready for that.

Claire persuades Jamie to give it a try, without actually saying so directly. "Tell me you don't love that man, and I'll never mention his name again," she says. Jamie doesn't even bother to argue. What's the point? They've said it all before, and the "end-of-series clock" is ticking. There's no time to waste. Jamie goes to find John in his study.

Jamie begins by talking about his family's tendency to stubbrnness. "My grandsire was said to have never apologized once in his life." (Thinking of the character of Lord Lovat as portrayed in BLOOD OF MY BLOOD, I can totally believe that.)

"When ye lay with Claire, ye said ye were both f*cking me, that it was me you were reaching for. That felt like a betrayal of our friendship."

"I said what I said trying to explain something that was impossible to explain. I never meant to hurt you, Jamie, but you--you nearly beat me to death for it, and might have, if those soldiers hadn't come along. And if you're not able to forgive me, after everything I've done for this friendship, then perhaps there IS no friendship!"

That's too much for Jamie, and he finally apologizes.

"I have wronged ye, John, and I am sorry. My pride kept me from seeing clearly. You have done more for me than I can ever repay." And naturally his thoughts turn to William.

“I had the making of him until he was six,” he said, and turned his gaze on John. “I ken what he’s made of. And I ken who shaped him after that. Tell me I’m wrong, my lord.”

(From WRITTEN IN MY OWN HEART'S BLOOD by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 88, "A Whiff of Roquefort". Copyright © 2014 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

"You made him the man he is, and I ken well what ye had to sacrifice to do it."

This line isn't in the books, and I liked it very much. John did indeed make a major sacrifice when he agreed to become William's stepfather, essentially turning his whole life upside down, including a marriage to Isobel that he presumably would never have considered otherwise, in order to look after the boy when Jamie himself could not.

Jamie and John exchange heartfelt thanks, and things seem to ease a little between them. "I would like to claim my revenge," John says. He challenges Jamie to a game of chess, as they used to play in the old days, in Ardsmuir Prison.

I liked this whole scene very much. It's a very satisfying way to wrap up that long-standing conflict, and I liked the way their relationship has come full circle: their friendship resuming with a chess game, in the same way that it began all those years ago in Ardsmuir.

The next scene, between Claire and William, is one that Diana Gabaldon says she didn't write. I thought whoever wrote it was trying much too hard to make a point. Yes, William has "two fathers". So do a lot of the characters on the Ridge. Was it really necessary to waste valuable screen time listiong Every Single Example, including characters that William barely knows?

"So many people in your life now were raised by a village." I really don't like this! It's much too reminiscent of Hillary Clinton's "It takes a village to raise a child," and jerked me momentarily out of the story.

William seems to think he must choose between his two fathers. He's evidently learned nothing from his time with Brianna, who has learned to love BOTH of her fathers. It's not a competition!

The next scene features William and Amaranthus. William's comments about forgiveness echo something we have seen in Jamie's thoughts from time to time in the books:

How to tell her in words, then, what he had learned himself by pain and grace? That only by forgiveness could she forget--and that forgiveness was not a single act, but a matter of constant practice.

(From DRUMS OF AUTUMN by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 48, "Away in a Manger". Copyright © 1997 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

If William is starting to learn that now, I think that's a good thing. But I don't think he should forgive Amaranthus just yet.

"I'm afraid there's no future for us," William says. He wishes her well, kisses her hand, and walks away. Good!! I really think he deserves better.

The next scene, where Jamie and Claire set out for home in the pouring rain, would have been even better if someone in the costume department had thought to provide them with cloaks or hoods or hats or some protection against the rain. I saw a comment online that this might be a reference to the Bob Dylan song, "A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall" that was playing during Jamie's heartbreaking departure from Helwater in Episode 304, "Of Lost Things", and maybe they did do it on purpose, but still, both Sam and Cait looked uncomfortable, getting soaked and trying hard not to react to it.

Having said that, I loved the bit where Jamie turns in his saddle as he rides away, catches William's eye, and gives him a small smile. So he remembered their conversation in last week's episode, where they talked about how Jamie had left Helwater without a backward glance, and how devastating that was for young Willie. I was glad to see that, and I took it as a sign that they really have reconciled, at long last.

Jamie and Claire return to Fraser's Ridge and resume their lives there, including bringing in the harvest. Bree gives birth to a healthy baby boy named Davy. If they're following the timeline of BEES, Davy's birth occurred on September 16, 1780, about three weeks before Kings Mountain. Clearly, if Jamie's going to fight at Kings Mountain, Bree presumably won't be in a position to accompany them to the battlefield. So Jamie takes the opportunity to have a private conversation with Bree, in case it should be their last chance.

"You're not coming back, are you?" Yikes! Just hearing Bree say that is terrifying.

Bree is understandably afraid of losing Jamie. "I finally have you in my life, and I can't imagine it without you. Please don't go!"

But Jamie insists he must go. "[Frank Randall] had no cause to love me. But he loved you. And he knew one thing about me, same thing I kent about him. That we would protect you with our lives. But I know the only way to truly protect you and everyone I love, is to fight."

I like that very much. Bree isn't happy about it, but she doesn't really have an argument to counter that. Besides, Jamie is a Highlander, and he won't back down from a fight if he thinks it's the right thing to do.

Meanwhile, in Savannah, Lord John comes to see Percy, wearing full Redcoat uniform. He sets a pistol down on the desk in front of Percy, in an unmistakable echo of Hal's actions in LORD JOHN AND THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE BLADE twenty years before.

Without speaking, [Hal] picked up the haversack he’d dropped by the table, and withdrew a pistol. It was an old one, of German manufacture.

“I want you to go and see [Wainwright],” he said.

“What?” Grey said, disbelieving.

[....]

"Are you seriously suggesting that I call upon Percy Wainwright and murder him in the gaol?”

“No. I’m suggesting that you call upon him, give him this, and ... urge him to--to do the honorable thing. It would be best for everyone,” Hal added softly, looking down at the tabletop. “Including him.”

(From LORD JOHN AND THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE BLADE by Diana Gabaldon, chapter 27, "The Honorable Thing". Copyright © 2007 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

"You betrayed us, Percy," John says. "You betrayed me. For that, you must answer."

When Percy hesitates, John offers him another option: "You sign this affidavit, confessing to the scheme to malign my character, extortion, and kidnapping. You will let the law decide your fate."

What about the possibility of copies of the incriminating documents being sent to the London press? John has an answer for that.

"If copies do resurface, the affidavit will render them null and void."
"And if I refuse?"
"It will be your signature on that paper or your blood. Either way, you will pay for your treachery."

If you think that's uncharacteristically ruthless of Lord John, keep in mind that in BROTHERHOOD OF THE BLADE chapter 34 ("Duchess of Pardloe"), John gouged out Bernard Adams' eye with a dagger in revenge for his involvement in the scandal that discredited John's father. He's totally capable of that sort of violence, even if he doesn't often show it.

John says that if Percy signs this affidavit, he will likely spend the rest of his life in prison. Tears in his eyes, Percy signs the document. John takes it and the pistol and turns to go.

"Will you ever forgive me, John?"

John doesn't answer. A few moments after he leaves the office, we hear a single gunshot and the thud of a body hitting the floor. Percy has killed himself. (Before you ask, yes, we're sure Percy committed suicide. STARZ included a "Suicide" warning at the beginning of this episode.)

My reaction here is about the same as in the book. I'm not unhappy to see Percy go.

This next scene is most definitely NOT from the book, for obvious reasons (and Diana Gabaldon has confirmed that she didn't write it), but I thought it was cute. Claire is in bed, writing something in a small book, when Jamie comes to find her. She lets him see it, and he reads from the first page:

"People disappear all the time...."

I burst out laughing when I heard that, because of course that's the first part of the Prologue to OUTLANDER.

People disappear all the time. Ask any policeman. Better yet, ask a journalist. Disappearances are bread-and-butter to journalists.

Young girls run away from home. Young children stray from their parents and are never seen again. Housewives reach the end of their tether and take the grocery money and a taxi to the station. International financiers change their names and vanish into the smoke of imported cigars.

Many of the lost will be found, eventually, dead or alive. Disappearances, after all, have explanations.

Usually.

(From OUTLANDER by Diana Gabaldon, "Prologue". Copyright © 1991 by Diana Gabaldon. All rights reserved.)

"You're writing your story?" Jamie asks.
"No. I'm writing our story."

I love that, because that's the way I've always thought of it, as the story of both of them.

Suddenly Jamie hears someone calling his name from outside. It's Benjamin Cleveland and the Over-Mountain Men, coming to deliver a message. Ferguson is on the march in North Carolina, and Jamie's men must join the others at Sycamore Shoals in two days' time. The Battle of Kings Mountain will happen very soon!

And with that, the episode ends.
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I hope you enjoyed this recap. Please come back next week for my recap of the series finale, Episode 810, and look here for my recaps of all of the previous OUTLANDER episodes.

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